September private home sales up 65% on-month!

Developers sold 65% more new private homes in September compared to August, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Excluding executive condominiums, 1,246 units of new private homes were sold in September, up from 756 in August as developers returned to the market with new launches after the Hungry Ghost Festival.

There was a sharp increase in transactions in the city fringes with 815 units sold.

Demand fell in the city, nearly half compared to August, with just 49 transactions.

While the number of new condo units sold in the suburbs was a third less than in August at 382 units, analysts noted the better figures were due mainly to two property launches in the city fringes.

And developers building smaller units have helped achieve higher prices on a per square foot (psf) basis.

Ku Swee Yong, Century's chief executive officer, said: "We expected the numbers to do well because of two well received launches - Thomson Three and Sky Vue in Bishan.
"In fact, Sky Vue in Bishan has also probably set a new record price for the Bishan area, and that is at above $2,000psf."

Source: Channel News Asia

Private home resale up 0.1% in August

Prices of private resale homes rose just 0.1% in August from July -- this is according to the latest Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI), which tracks prices of completed private apartments and condominiums.

The SRPI data is published by the Institute of Real Estate Studies at National University of Singapore (NUS).

Resale prices of private homes in the central area saw the biggest decline, down 1.1% last month.

However, prices of units in the non-central region went up by 1.0%. The index covering small units of 506sqft and below also increased 1.0%.

Source: Channel News Asia

August private home demand up 54%!

Demand for new private homes in Singapore surged nearly 54% on-month in August, after the sharp decline seen in July.
According to latest figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), 742 new private homes were sold last month, compared to the 482 units transacted in July.
The best-selling project in August was The Tembusu at Tampines Road with 218 units sold.
Including executive condominiums (EC), a total of 1,468 new homes were sold in August, with ECs accounting for nearly half of August's sales.
The most popular EC projects were Ecopolitan at Punggol with 335 units sold and Lush Acres at Sengkang, selling 311 units.

Source: Channel News Asia

It's official: July new home sales down 73%

Sales of new private homes in Singapore plunged in July.

Figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority show that just 481 units of new homes were sold last month, down 73% from June. 1,806 units were sold in June.

Market watchers had anticipated the sharp drop in sales transactions on the back of new loan curbs introduced on 29 June and the lack of new major project launches in July.

The top-selling project during the month was Vue 8 Residence in Pasir Ris, which moved 63 units, followed by Bartley Ridge at Mount Vernon Road with 25 units sold.

Including executive condominiums (ECs), 593 new homes were sold in July, down from 2,119 units transacted in the previous month.

The best-selling EC project was Forestville at Woodlands, which sold 78 new units.
Developers launched a total of 557 new units last month, compared to 2,421 units placed for sale in June.

Source: Channel News Asia

July new home sales down 63%..?!

Property analysts expect new private home sales in Singapore to likely plunge by some 63% in July.

And they say the sharp drop in sales volume is partly due to new property loan restrictions implemented on June 29.

Two projects - J-Gateway and Jewel@Buangkok - accounted for more than half of the 1,806 new homes sold in June.

But sales in July are expected to weaken considerably.

Based on preliminary figures from URA and SRX, property agency PropNex says just 664 units of new private homes, excluding Executive Condominiums, were sold last month.

PropNex adds that take-up rate was down across all segments - including homes in the city, city fringe and suburban areas.

And the reasons for the sharp drop are - a lack of major new launches and the Total Debt Servicing Ratio Framework (TDSR) introduced at end-June.

Industry players say previously a home buyer could walk into a showflat, get an in-principle approval for a housing loan and book a unit all in a day. But now, it could take 10 days or more to close a deal as a result of the lengthier loan application process.

Under the new rules, a loan applicant will have to provide details of all his or her debt obligations, including property and non-property loans to the bank.

With that in mind, some property agents say developers are changing the way they market their projects.

Mr Mohd Ismail, CEO of PropNex, said: "Prior to TDSR, the preview will be over the weekend or on a Friday, and then Saturday, Sunday the booking starts. Today, the norm is most developers open up their showflats for a preview, 10 to 14 days and during the preview most of the buyers walk in and select a unit with an expression of interest, and then get the bank to give an in-principle approval.
And only after 10 to 14 days, the booking starts."

Analysts say the slower loan approval process has unwittingly become a cooling period, and some buyers have backed out on getting a unit during that time.

Meanwhile, property agency OrangeTee says it's seen a 20% drop in resale transactions for private homes in July.

Ms Christine Li, Head of Research and Consultancy at OrangeTee, said: "Usually agents took about four to six weeks to close deals, but because of TDSR, they are taking a bit longer, about eight weeks on average. This is partly because some of the buyers they are reassessing their affordability. Due to TDSR, they are not sure whether they still can get the loan quantum they previously wanted."

Analysts say property sales in August could remain slow as it coincides with the Hungry Ghost Festival.

But demand could pick up in September as developers launch more projects.

The URA is expected to announce the new private home sales figures for July on August 15.

Source: Channel News Asia

New private homes sales up 5.4% in May!

Sales of new private homes, excluding executive condominiums, climbed 5.4% to 1,455 units in May.

This is compared to 1,380 new homes sold in April 2013, according to figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

The number of new private homes sold in the city fringes jumped by about 27% from 473 units in April to 602 units in May.

This was mostly due to new project launches in the area.

However, sales of new private homes in the city area dropped to 125 units in May, compared to 178 units in the previous month.

Meanwhile, new private home sales in the suburbs contributed to slightly under half of the sales volume in May.

The take-up rate for new homes remained stable at 728 units in May compared to April's 729 units.

Source: Channel News Asia

March private home sales quadrupled vis-a-vis February!

Sales of new private homes jumped by more than four times in March, compared to February.

Latest figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed that developers sold 2,793 new units (excluding executive condominiums) in March.

This is in sharp contrast to the 712 new private homes moved by private developers in February.

The government announced its latest round of cooling measures in January this year in a bid to cool the Singapore’s property market.

Meanwhile, URA data showed that 1,814 units of new private homes located in the suburbs were sold in March, while developers moved 822 units in the fringes.

But the number of new private homes sold in the city dipped slightly to 157 units.

Source: Channel News Asia

Jan 2013 new private home sales jumped 43%

Sales of new private homes in Singapore jumped by about 43% on-month in January 2013, despite the latest round of cooling measures introduced last month.

According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), 2,013 units of new private homes - excluding executive condominiums - were sold in January, compared to 1,410 units sold in December 2012.

A URA spokesperson said about 60% of the 2,013 units were sold before January 12 - before the latest cooling measures took effect.

The remaining 40% of the units were transacted from January 12 onwards.

The rush to beat the January 12 deadline partly caused the spike in new private home sales during what is traditionally a lull period.

Extending sales hours way into the night before the new measures kicked in helped pushed sales at La Fiesta in Sengkang.

The development saw a total of 404 units sold in January - making it the best-selling project for the month.

Out of the total sales, only 44 units were moved at La Fiesta post cooling measures.

Thomas Tan, executive director at RE/MAX Singapore, said: "After the cooling measures were announced, I think the effect will be seen probably after one quarter.

"You will probably see a truer picture - what is really happening in the market - from March or even April onwards, so that the cooling measures can take its course, then buyers can make informed decisions."

Experts said sales discounts in the form of furniture rebates and renovation vouchers also helped move sales after the new measures were implemented.

But they added that sales momentum may run out of steam in the coming months.

Getty Goh, director at Ascendant Assets, said: "In February, we may expect to see good volume but it may not translate to significant price increases. This is because of all the discounts given.

"Right now, although we do not have clear visibility. Going forward, when the Parliament passes new regulations to the developers' act, the Housing Developers' Act, which requires them to start publishing what sort of discounts they are giving, then after that, we will be able to get a better sense of the kind of actual figures that we are talking about here."

Meanwhile, data released by URA on Friday showed that 350 units of new private homes located in the core central region were sold in January.

Developers moved 376 new units in the city fringe and 1,287 units in the suburban areas.

Looking ahead for the full year, experts do not expect total sales in 2013 to surpass the record sales of 22,684 new private homes in 2012.

Source: Channel News Asia

And for those who are interested in d'Leedon, the wife and I understand that 263 units were sold at d'Leedon last month. This, coupled with a total of 848 units sold till Dec 2012, meant that a total of 1,111 units (although data in the URA website indicates 1,110) have been sold as at Jan 2013.

So if the project has indeed moved another 100 units in the first 15 days of February, the "left only less than 500 units" as informed by our agent friend could well be true...

 

 

New private home sales down 31% in May 2012!

New private home sales in Singapore fell 31.6% in May following strong sales in the first four months of the year.

According to data released on Friday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, 1,702 new private residential units, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), were sold in May, down from April's record 2,487 units sold.

URA said 1,205 new homes were sold in the suburbs, or Outside Central Region, in May.

Meanwhile, 362 new homes were sold in the city fringes, or Rest of Central Region (RCR), and 135 units were sold in the city, or Core Central Region (CCR).

Including ECs, 2,057 units of new homes were sold in May.

Source: Channel News Asia

Thanks to MS for alerting us about the news flash.

So is this just a blip or a sign of things to come...?

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February private homes sales up 29%!

Demand for new private homes in Singapore continued to increase in February, after rising sharply in January.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority said excluding executive condominiums, 2,413 new private homes were sold in February, up by about 29% from the previous month.

In January, 1,872 new units changed hands, almost three times more than December's sales.

For February, the best selling projects were mostly located in the suburban areas.

The top seller was Parc Rosewood with 380 units sold.

Guillemard Edge, which is located in the city fringe, also performed well with sales of 275 units.

Meanwhile, home buyers also snapped up executive condominium (EC) units.

257 units of ECs have been sold at Twin Waterfalls, 187 units at The Tampines Trilliant and 186 units at The Rainforest.

Including ECs, a total of 3,138 units were sold last month, up 51% compared to January.

Source: Channel News Asia

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More on the December private home sales figures...

Notice how sales in 2008 dropped to 4,200+ units from the peak of 14,800+ units in 2007?

But it won't happen again, some said... The wife and I certainly hope they are right!


Reference: "Private home sales slide in December" - The Straits Times, 17 Jan 2012

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Big slide in private home sales in December 2011!

Sales of new private homes in Singapore fell 62.9 per cent in December, based on latest data released on Monday.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said a total of 632 units were sold last month excluding executive condominiums.

That's significantly lower than the 1,702 private homes sold in November.

Around 489 units were sold in the outlying areas or outside central region while 108 private homes were sold in city fringes.

Only 35 units were sold in the prime district.

The best selling projects were all located outside the central region: The Archipelago with 103 units sold, The Nautical with 84 units and The Palette with 61 units sold.

In December, developers placed 937 units of new homes for sale, compared to 1,967 units launched the previous month.

Source: Channel News Asia

 
The drop in December sales is hardly unexpected but the magnitude of the fall is somewhat a surprise. And given last month's dismal sales figure, it brought the total tally for 2011 to 16,025 - a tad shy of the 16,292 achieved in 2010 but still impressive nonetheless, considering the number of cooling measures that were introduced last year...

Click on below to read our previous post on the November 2011 sales figure:
http://www.sgproptalk.blogspot.com/2011/12/novembers-home-sales-up-223-month-on.html

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November's home sales up 22.3% month-on-month

Just before the cooling measures on Dec 7 changed the property landscape, private home sales had spiked sharply in November, the latest numbers released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) shows. But the immediate future looks starkly different, as consultants expect sales to slow by 20 to 30%.

Buyers snapped up 1,701 private homes in November, excluding executive condominiums (ECs) - a 22.3% increase from October's 1,391 units.

Including ECs, 1,854 homes were sold, compared to 1,642 in October. This translates to 153 ECs being sold in November. (*shouldn't the Nov EC sales be 212?!)

The cooling measures have changed the equation.

Png Poh Soon, director, consultancy and research at Knight Frank, says that excluding executive condominiums (ECs), sales could fall to some 1,000 units or fewer per month. After Chinese New Year, this could rise moderately to between 1,100 to 1,200 units he said.

ERA key executive officer, Eugene Lim agreed. "We expect the market to take a breather in December and January as developers and buyers take stock of the recent changes... We can expect slower sales by about 20 to 30% over this festive period," he noted.

Added PropNex Realty chief executive Mohamed Ismail: "It will be interesting to see the results of private property sales from December onwards, especially after the ABSD (additional buyer's stamp duty) has taken effect."

On Dec 7, the government announced a series of cooling measures, which included an additional 10% stamp duty for foreign buyers.

According to Chia Siew Chuin, director of research and advisory, at Colliers International, these measures could result in an initial knee-jerk reaction in the market. That, coupled with potential homebuyers who may be sidelined during the year-end school holiday and festive season, is likely to put a cap on demand in December.

In the first 11 months of the year, developers had sold 15,393 private homes (excluding ECs), and 2,855 ECs. For the whole of last year, developers sold 16,292 private homes and 1,052 ECs.

The slowdown in December could mean that the total sale of private homes in the primary market may now be close to last year's level - instead of easily surpassing it.

Taking into account the economic outlook and likely effects of the new measure, take-up for new homes sales in 2012 could potentially fall between 9,000 to 11,000 units, said Ms Chia.

Alan Cheong, associate director or Savills Research and consultancy added: : Transaction volumes should be tepid in the light of a standoff between local buyers who think they can get a better deal and developers who have the financial strength to stay put."

Dennis Wee Group's senior manager in research and consultancy, Lee Sze Teck, added: "It could be till February that we will see the full effect of the ABSD. Most developers are adopting a wait and see approach before deciding whether to offer relief package to offset the ABSD."

According to CBRE, prices of luxury/prime residential properties could fall by 10 to 15% in 2012, whereas mass-market homes could fall by 5 - 10%. Landed home prices will likely see a smaller correction of less than 5% since foreigners are generally not allowed to buy and supply is limited.

"However, we are of the opinion that these measures are unlikely to be a permanent feature because of the nature of Singapore's highly open economy," CBRE added.

Savills' Mr Cheong added: "Property prices were already moderating before these cooling measures were announced. In the face of global uncertainties, these measures came as a surprise, not in terms of timing, but in the form."
The market had looked quite hot before the measures were announced. Top sellers in November included Bedok Residences (477 units sold at $1,359psf median price), The Palette (367 units sold at $895psf median price), Parc Vera (83 units at $825psf median price).

One of the drivers pushing sales was the supply of new units in the market, say consultants; in a move to launch projects before the year-end holiday period, developers released a total of 1,979 units for sale, a month-to-month increase of 47.9%.

This marks the second highest launch and sales volume this year, after April's 2,055 units launched and 1,805 sold, said Colliers' Ms Chia.

The Outside Central Region (OCR) - where suburban mass-market condominiums are located - dominated November's launch and sale figures. Sales in the OCR jumped 49% month-on-month in November to 1,328 units, or 78.1% of all units sold.

This is also the highest monthly sales in the region, since July 2009.

New launches were also up, helping drive new demand, with 1,518 new units launched to the (OCR) market in November, an increase of some 123% compared to October, pointed out Chua Yang Liang, from Jones Lang LaSalle.

Colliers International's analysis showed that about 37% of the 1,701 homes sold by developers were priced at $1,000psf or less. More than half of the transactions (about 52%) fell between $1,000 and $1,500psf.

Source: The Business Times

The wife and I were reminded by the fact that last year's total private home sales of 16,292 units was a record. So given the slew of cooling measures announced by the Government (SSD, ABSD etc) so far this year and the poorer global economic situation compared to last year, the property market (15,393 units as of November) has done spectacularly well year to date. 

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Breaking News: Fall in the number of private homes sold in October

The number of private homes sold in October went down by 14.9%.

Latest figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed 1,387 private units were sold in October. That's 244 units lower than the month before.

In September, 1,631 units were sold.

Source: Channel News Asia

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September new home sales up 26%!

The private residential market saw a rebound in September.

Figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday showed 2,064 units, including executive condominiums (ECs), were transacted.

This is the highest number of monthly transactions this year and a significant 26% increase from August's 1,638 units.

Treasure Trove, a development in Punggol, accounted for about 40% of the transactions with more than 680 units sold.

PropNex Realty said the homebuyers are mainly HDB upgraders, attracted to the pricing and the proximity of the development to the Punggol MRT.

It said the revision of income ceiling had prompted many to purchase ECs.

Excluding ECs, the number of units sold in the mass market with units costing $1,200psf or less, accounted for more than three quarters of the transactions.

Jones Lang LaSalle said the surprise upside in September monthly sales only confirms the view of an underlying market need for homes.

Dr Chua Yang Liang, head of Research, Southeast Asia, said the market remains price sensitive with projects in the suburban areas seeing more take-up compared to projects in the city and its fringes.

PropNex said it expects October's sales to hold steady, with over 1,400 units sold. This is due to the fact that developers will be launching more projects in the coming months.

It added that it expects both home buyers and investors to take a more cautious approach on prices.

Source: Channel News Asia

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More on the August 2011 private home sales figures

It looks like the August figures have given some cheers and renewed optimisim to the private home market.

But the wife and I wonder if the current developers' strategies of "launch-as-fast-as-they-can", coupled with the increasing number of state land parcels that the Government is putting out for sale, will add to the woes of oversupply of private homes expected in 2013.

Then again, we can always count on overseas monies seeking safe-haven and failing which, our immigrant population to take up the slack... right?!

Reference: "Sales of up to 16,000 private homes by year-end forecast" - The Business Times, 16 Sep 2011

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August private home sales drops 3.6%

Private home sales in Singapore dipped 3.6% in August. This follows the 17% rebound in July.

The dip comes after the government increased the income ceiling for public flats and executive condominiums (ECs) in August.

Some 1,348 units were sold in August, excluding ECs. That's 50 units fewer than the 1,398 units sold in the previous month.

More than eight in ten units - 1,114 of the total units sold in August - were sold in the suburbs, while 169 units came from city fringe areas with 65 units sold in the city centre.

The most expensive unit sold in August was at The Marq on Paterson Hill in District 9, which went for $6,394psf.

Source: Channel News Asia

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Build (more) and they will buy...?

A study by Savills Singapore has put some hard numbers to the big lure of small apartments. Developers have been squeezing out more units on sites bought at state land tenders in recent years than was initially estimated.

The study was based on 51 private housing sites including seven executive condo (EC) plots sold under the 2006-2010 Government Land Sale (GLS) Programme and took in projects launched up to Aug 10 this year.

The total number of private homes actually generated on these sites will exceed the GLS Programme estimates by about 11%. Excluding EC sites, the surplus supply is slightly higher at 12%.

Urban Redevelopment Authority’s spokesperson said: “The estimated number of residential units in the GLS announcement is intended to serve as a guide only.”

Once developers that have bought sites at state tenders receive planning approvals, URA uses actual supply numbers for estimating pipeline supply.

Savills’ study shows that the supply from projects on each of the 8 sites exceeds the supply estimate in the GLS Programme by more than 40%. Savills found that a substantial portion of units in these developments are below 800sqft, and in some cases, even under 500sqft.

While shoebox units have fuelled the trend of developers minting more units in their projects, this was mitigated by ECs where units are larger. The government began selling EC land in 2010 after a five-year hiatus.

Another finding in the study is that the trend of producing “surplus” units over the GLS Programme supply estimate gathered momentum after 2007. Private residential sites tendered under the 2007 GLS Programme generated just about 3% more units than estimated in the Programme. This surplus increased to 9% for sites sold in the 2008 GLS slate, 14% for 2009 plots and – if EC sites are included – 15% for 2010 GLS sites. If EC sites are excluded, the last figure would be 19%.

Savills highlighted that projects with more than 40% “surplus units” generally have a substantial portion of small units. And 5 projects on sites sold under the 2006 -2010 state land sales programmes will yield at least 50% more units than the state’s estimates for these sites indicated in the respective Government Land sale (GLS) Programmes.

Source: The Business Times

Given the huge disparity between actual and estimated number of units generated, one should not be too surprised by the rising figure for unsold new private homes in the supply pipeline...

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Private home sales continue to rise in Q2 2011

Sales of private home rose 21.6% quarter on quarter in Q2 2011 and the number of units bought by mainland Chinese buyers hit a new high, according to a new report from DTZ.

The property firm, which analysed caveats lodged for both new and secondary sales, said that the number of transactions rose to 8,458 in the second quarter of this year from 6,958 deals in Q1.

Mainland Chinese buyers continued to be the top non-Singaporean purchasers of residential properties in Singapore for the second consecutive quarter. In absolute terms, purchases by mainland Chinese buyers accounted for 640 units of all private residential transactions – which is a new high and more than the 527 units purchased in Q1 2011.

The total proportion of private homes bought by all foreigners stayed at a record high of 16% in the second quarter of 2011 – the same ratio as in the first three months of the year and the highest quarterly percentage recorded since data was made available for analysis in Q1 1995.

“The bulk of private residential purchases by foreigners continued to be in the high-end market segment,” said DTZ’s head of South-east Asia research Chua Chor Hoon. Of the total private residential purchases by foreigners, 43.3% cost $1.5 million or more.

DTZ, which downloaded the caveats from URA Realis on August 5, also found that the ratio of buyers with HDB addresses has been inching up over the last three quarters.

Such buyers bought 38.7% of all private homes in Q2 2011, up from 37% in Q1 2011 and the 34.6% in Q4 2010.

And in a reversal from past trends in 2010 and Q1 2011, more purchasers with HDB addresses bought units of sizes below 1,000sqft as compared to purchasers with private addresses.

DTZ found that 50.3% of buyers who picked up units below 1,000sqft in Q2 2011 had HDB addresses, which is an increase over the 47.5% in Q1.

A separate analysis of caveats by Knight Frank similarly found that more HDB upgraders bought small, or “shoebox”, units in Q2.

Some 16.4% of home buyers with HDB addresses bought shoebox units (which Knight Frank defined as units with sizes up to 550sqft) in Q 2 2011, higher than the 14.6% in Q1 2011 and significantly higher than the 8.6% in Q2 2010, Knight Frank said. The firm downloaded caveats on August 16. “A significant group of HDB buyers may be investors looking for rental yields in a low interest rate environment,” said Knight Frank research head Png Poh Soon.

“Based on their budget, shoebox units with a lower price quantum appeal to these buyers.”

Looking ahead, analysts noted that concerns over the US and Europe debt problems and the slowing economy have led to more cautious sentiments in the private residential market.

Said OCBC Investment Research analyst Eli Lee in a recent report: “We expect developers and buyers alike to remain cautious for the remainder of H2 2011 and sales volume to soften going forward”

In Singapore, purchase demand for private homes will still be supported by economic growth and the low-interest rate environment in Singapore, DTZ’s Ms Chua said.

Source: The Business Times

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